January home-maintenance checklist

The dead of winter is the time for the greatest vigilance in your home-maintenance routine. The most important job this month is to head off damage to your home from water and dampness from a number of sources:
• Groundwater and rain seeping into your home.

• Leaky pipes inside the walls.
• Pipes bursting from freezing and thawing.

Take a tour
After a winter storm, get outside as soon as you can. Walk around the house, checking for damage from wind and broken tree limbs. Use binoculars if you can't see your entire roof. Scan for loose or missing shingles.

Give special attention to vulnerable pipes — indoors and out — that are exposed to the cold, including hose bibs, pipes in outside walls, garden sprinkler lines, swimming pool pipes and pipes in unheated attics, basements and garages. A frozen pipe needs only a one-eighth-inch crack to leak as much as 250 gallons a day, according to this State Farm Insurance video, which demonstrates how to shut off your water and insulate pipes.

Take these steps to safeguard against damage from frozen and bursting pipes:

1. If practical, insulate any pipes exposed to the cold. Ask hardware-store personnel for the best materials for the job.
2. Seal any leaks that are letting cold air in, especially around dryer vents and pipes and where electrical wiring enters the house.
3. Search for uninsulated water supply lines in the attic, garage, basement and crawl spaces and in bathroom and kitchen cabinets adjacent to outside walls. During a cold spell, open cupboard doors in the kitchen and bathroom so the home's heat can reach them. (Reminder: Put harmful household cleaners out of the reach of children.) Keep doors shut tight in the garage and outside closets and cupboards during freezing weather.
4. When temperatures drop below zero, open both hot and cold faucets a trickle to relieve pressure in the pipes.
5. Locate your home's water shut-off valve; learn how to turn off the water quickly in case a pipe bursts.
6. If you'll be gone in freezing weather, even overnight, ask a friend or neighbor to check on your house for broken or leaking pipes. Show him or her how to shut off the water.
7. Keep temperatures inside the house at 55 degrees Fahrenheit or above, night and day, even when you're gone.
8. Promise yourself that when the weather improves you will add to the installation in the basement or crawl space and attic.
9. Leak prevention

• Install small, battery-powered individual leak alarms, also called flood alarms, under the refrigerator, kitchen and bathroom drain pipes, dishwasher and laundry appliances and behind toilets. Cost: around $10-$15 each.
• Check to make sure your sump pump is operating properly. If it has a battery backup, unplug the pump from the wall and test it.

Look for pests seeking shelter
Cold weather drives mice and insects into the walls of your home. Even unheated parts of the house invite these pests. Insects need only a crack to enter, and mice can get in through a dime-sized hole. Houseflies, particularly, pose a health risk because they can transmit disease.

• Seal any cracks where pests enter.
• Empty compost and garbage frequently.
• Keep food covered and put away; keep counters clean.
• Fix leaky pipes quickly.
• Pour boiling water down bathroom and kitchen drains monthly, preventing the buildup of bacteria-laden sludge; scrub removable drain covers weekly.
• Check basement, attic, crawl spaces and the back of cupboards and cabinets for mice droppings or holes. If you find evidence, install traps immediately or call a pest-control service.
• Pick up and dispose of outdoor pet waste promptly; turn compost piles frequently.

Make an inventory

While you are putting away holiday gifts, seize the opportunity to make a quick home inventory.

An inventory is a record of your home's features, conditions, furnishings and valuable possessions. If your home is damaged or destroyed by fire, flood, mudslide or other disaster, you can use the inventory to substantiate your insurance claim to get the maximum replacement value for what was lost.

Your inventory doesn't have to be fancy. You can get started and add to it later. Supplement your record with photos or video. The Insurance Information Institute has free software for making a room-by-room home inventory. Download it here and watch an instructional video here.

Tips:

• Save receipts for valuable home purchases and for work you have done to upgrade the interior or exterior of your home.
• Keep a copy of your inventory in a bank safe-deposit box or on a hosted server online, so you can get it even if your computer is destroyed.

Also …
Here are a few more winter tasks:

1. Check the labels on the switches in your electrical circuit-breaker panel and make new labels if necessary.
2. Check your furnace filter monthly in the winter to see if it needs replacing.
3. Use a vacuum-cleaner tool or a long-handled brush to clean under and behind the refrigerator, including the coils.
4. Clean lint from under laundry appliances, especially the dryer, carefully work the cleaning tool down into the lint filter; outdoors, clean the dryer vent outlet, reaching as far as possible into the pipe.
5. Gather product documents and warranties into a folder. Go through the contents and discard outdated materials.
6. Walk around inside the house with a screwdriver, pencil and paper. Tighten any loose knobs and attachments and list repairs to tackle later.
7. Examine the ducts of your forced-air furnace and seal any leaks with duct tape.